Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

Asked to Give DNA Back

A South African university has instructed the Wellcome Sanger Institute to return DNA samples it has that were collected from indigenous African communities, The Times reports.

According to The Times, officials from Stellenbosch University say the Sanger sought to commercialize samples that had been provided to it to study "population history and human evolution." Researchers from African universities and the Lebanese American University collected these samples from indigenous populations, including the Nama people, solely for research and not for commercialization, it adds.

But in a letter sent to the Sanger, the Stellenbosch officials say they learned the Sanger was in talks with Thermo Fisher to develop a commercial research tool based on these samples and that this "raises serious legal and ethical consequences," as The Times reports.

The Sanger denies the allegations and says it did not breach its agreement, according to The Times. It adds that the Sanger says that a person working at the institute proposed the commercialization work, but that the institute did not pursue it.

The Scan

Cell Signaling Pathway Identified as Metastasis Suppressor

A new study in Nature homes in on the STING pathway as a suppressor of metastasis in a mouse model of lung cancer.

Using Bees to Gain Insights into Urban Microbiomes

As bees buzz around, they pick up debris that provides insight into the metagenome of their surroundings, researchers report in Environmental Microbiome.

Age, Genetic Risk Tied to Blood Lipid Changes in New Study

A study appearing in JAMA Network Open suggests strategies to address high lipid levels should focus on individuals with high genetic risk and at specific ages.

Study Examines Insights Gained by Adjunct Trio RNA Sequencing in Complex Pediatric Disease Cases

Researchers in AJHG explore the diagnostic utility of adding parent-child RNA-seq to genome sequencing in dozens of families with complex, undiagnosed genetic disease.